22 UK and Chinese companies pledge to further gender equality in the workplace
The Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress flagship event takes place in Beijing on 17 December.
HMA gives opening speech at the event
Hosted by Her Majesty’s Ambassador to China, Dame Barbara Woodward, the event brought together 22 UK and Chinese enterprises including leaders from PWC, Qyer, Thoughtworks, Lady Britannia and Youyang to discuss practical actions on fostering gender equal practices in organizations.
Ambassador Woodward said at the event:
As the first female British Ambassador to China I want all women in this country to have the same opportunities for promotion as men.
Companies that are serious about gender equality enjoy faster economic growth and have access to a bigger pool of talent
So I’m delighted to see so many concrete actions being taken by leading companies to promote gender equal practices in the workplace.
At the event, Ambassador Woodward awarded Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress certificates to the companies who made their pledges at the event. Among the pledged companies, Qyer pledges to increase 20% training budget in 2019 for both male female employee’s career development and personal development. PwC pledges to achieve gender equality in its workplace by taking collective actions to eliminate behaviours of discrimination or unconscious bias.
HMA gives certifications to representatives from pledged companies
Women’s empowerment is an economic necessity. According to a McKinsey study, advancing women’s equality in the countries of Asia Pacific alone could add $4.5 trillion to their collective annual GDP in 2025. To tackle this global challenge, the UK Government in China in partnership with China’s Mulan Club, the British Chamber of Commerce in China and Netease Women launched the campaign The Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress at the 3rd Silk Road International Trade and Investment Expo held this May in Xi’an.
HMA gives certifications to representatives from pledged companies
Since then the British Embassy and Consulates General in China have run nearly 20 Pledge for Progress events across China to promote gender diversity in the workplace, reached over 100 million audiences. More than 80 UK and Chinese leading companies, spanning many different sectors, have made their pledges as part of this campaign. UK technology company ThoughtWorks pledged to offer free training programs to other business institutions who participated in the campaign to educate and encourage women to be more confident at work and to break career development barriers.
More information:
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The Be Yourself campaign was launched in 2016 to raise awareness of the benefits of gender equality to society and the economy. This year, the UK government is working to promote gender equality across the business world through the Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress campaign. Over 80 companies have made their pledges so far including BP China, Ctrip, McKinsey and Lloyds China. The pledges covered a wide range of gender equality issues, including increasing investment in female leadership training; enabling flexible working practices and reviewing recruitment processes to ensure they are not barriers to employing talented female staff.
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The launch of Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK’s Government Equalities Office and the All China Women’s Federation in December 2017 to increase collaboration and exchange between the UK and China on the topic of gender equality.
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For more information on the campaign follow the hashtag #妳的未来不是梦# on Weibo.